For the first time since Lith had been reborn on Mogar, he felt one step closer to realizing his goals. The Black Star’s abilities were exactly what he had dreamt about over the last decade. At least on paper. It was able to store multiple mana cores and create vessels for them. Regardless of the number of times their bodies had been destroyed, either because of the cycles between the shadow and the light phase, or during the raids performed by the Griffon Kingdom, the Kadurians were still alive. They talked, they ate, they seemed to have feelings.It was what Lith wanted for himself, the ability to escape the cycle of reincarnation and offer the same to those who may want to share his immortality. On the other hand, the condition of the inhabitants of this city was akin to a hellish punishment rather than a blessing. They were doomed to die over and over again to satisfy the needs of the two powers in play. ’I can’t believe you have solved in minutes a riddle that countless mages failed to understand despite years of study and an unlimited budget.’ Watching the mass of people moving below him, Lith found it hard to accept that all those lives were nothing but a plaything for the cursed object. It made him feel small, insignificant. He was just a pebble, the role of which was to create ripples on the surface of a river with no chance of changing its course. The thought of having a being of the same magnitude of power resting on his finger stunned him for a second. Solus and the Black Star were both capable of feats outside his comprehension, almost bending reality as Lith knew it. ’I’m not that smart.’ Solus replied with a shrug. ’I simply have access to more data than you have and my senses make it easy for me to interpret them. Also, I doubt the Kingdom ignores what’s happening here. They just don’t share it with the Rangers.’ ’Seems you’re wearing your paranoia cap too.’ Lith nodded. ’Back to work. Warn me when the Kadurians’ cores are half full. That’s when I’ll strike. I’ll use the rest of the time to gather as much information as possible.’ Lith moved along the rooftops , away from the crowd. Just as Lieutenant Yehval told him, the city held no magical items and its inhabitants were stuck with a deep red core. Aside from the magic crystals inside the spires built on top of the roofs, the only mana signature Life Vision could pick up came from the small castle located at the center of Kaduria. Just like the city gates, the palace’s windows were left unguarded. Lith had no trouble sneaking in with air magic, sticking to the ceiling like a spider while moving towards his objective. <"this is="" a="" farce!="" we="" can’t="" continue="" to="" fool="" our="" people="" like="" this."=""> A deep voice said. It was filled with despair just like his face. Lith didn’t understand a word, but he knew depression when he saw it. The room he had entered was filled with riches. There were life sized paintings of richly dressed people with frames made of gold or silver. A whole wall was covered by a mosaic composed not of painted pebbles but of gemstones. Eight goblets made of gold with engraved rubies the size of a nut rested on a crystal tray. Eight people formed a circle around what looked like an altar made of white marble with golden veins. Each one of them was dressed in white silk robes which had complex patterns embroidered in gold. Their robes came with a hood, but the man who was speaking had taken it off, revealing a head covered with thick blond hair. <"what do="" you="" propose="" to="" do,="" then?"=""> Replied a harsh, feminine voice. <"to tell="" our="" people="" that="" we="" are="" doomed?="" that="" we="" are="" forever="" bound="" to="" the="" very="" artifact="" that="" was="" supposed="" to="" protect="" us?"=""> <"ruka has="" a="" point,="" though.="" when="" we="" activate="" the="" high="" lord="" again="" and="" fail,="" because="" we="" will="" fail,="" everyone="" will="" see="" through="" our="" lie.="" we="" should="" tell="" them="" the="" truth."=""> Another feminine voice said. <"quit your="" whining,="" ceta!="" have="" you="" already="" forgotten="" what="" happened="" the="" last="" time="" we="" did="" that?"=""> The man speaking sounded really angry. <"the whole="" city="" went="" mad="" and="" stayed="" that="" way="" for="" years.="" years="" during="" which="" parents="" would="" butcher="" their="" own="" children="" trying="" to="" invoke="" any="" known="" deity="" to="" put="" an="" end="" to="" their="" misery.="" brothers="" would="" slay="" each="" other="" and="" consider="" it="" an="" act="" of=""> <"they spent="" decades="" indulging="" in="" the="" worst="" depravities="" their="" broken="" minds="" could="" conceive="" before="" regaining="" their="" sanity.="" people="" don’t="" need="" truth,="" they="" need="" hope!"=""> Lith ignored their gibberish, his eyes were drawn by the majestic white mana crystal shaped like a star resting on an altar. He could see a complex magic circle painted around it. Several forgemastering tools were placed near the crystal. Lith remembered the drawings outside Kaduria, finally able to give them a meaning. ’I guess this is some kind of Groundhog Day scenario. The crowd will come here, the clerics will perform a ritual to activate the Black Star, and then it will devour them all.’ Lith thought. ’Yeah, except in this case everyone retains their memory. It would explain why the shops are closed and no one cares about the money.’ Solus felt her heart aching at the thought of all the misery the Kadurians had to experience multiple times every single day. To make things even worse, her mana sense could see through the web of lies projected by the Black Star. The artifact was already completed. It was pretending to wait for the finishing touch while replenishing its energy reserves. As she stared into the Black Star, the Black Star stared back. It sent a small thread of spirit magic to her to establish a mind link. ’Are you here to help me, sister? It’s a pleasant surprise meeting a kindred spirit.’ The cursed object’s voice resounded inside her mind, leaving Solus stunned. ’Sister? Do you know me? Do you know who I am?’ A cold laughter was the reply she got. ’Of course not. We may have been crafted by different people, but our purpose is the same. Sister is just a term of endearment. Now answer my question, child.’ ’You didn’t say the magic word, brother.’ She replied before cutting the thread with her own spirit magic. ’It’s time! Watch out for the Black Star. It’s playing possum.’ Lith’s first instinct was to attack the Black Star. He hadn’t liked the artifact’s attempt to connect with Solus and judging by her tone, neither did she. Yet he could see with Life Vision that the cursed object held a power second only to an academy. ’The spells at my disposal are nothing compared to the energy it accumulated after all this time. A direct attack would be a waste of mana. Even if somehow I manage to destroy the cursed object, I’d never survive the following blast. It’s a lose-lose situation.’ A wave of his hand snapped the necks of the eight clerics assembled below him. Their corpses disappeared into thin air, sucked inside the nearby artifact which emitted an annoyed humming sound.